Field of the Invention
The invention generally concerns computational fluid dynamics. More specifically, the invention concerns simulating fluid flow through heterogeneous porous media, such as in endovascular systems, fluid filtration, oil and gas recovery, etc.
Description of Related Art
In computational fluid dynamics (CFD), modeling heterogeneous fluid paths is computationally intensive and simplifications of the heterogeneous fluid path aimed at reducing computational burdens impact the accuracy of CFD modeling. Currently, there is a significant drawback associated with the homogeneous porous medium assumption implemented in literature because of the change in porosity throughout the domain. In other words, the fluid capability to flow in a porous medium is dependent on the resistance of the seepage path. For example, at some regions the porosity is higher which leads to a lower resistance. This can change in the other regions requiring a heterogeneous porous medium for more accurate modeling.
One area where heterogeneous fluid path modeling is particularly helpful is in diagnostic and evaluative modeling of endovascular systems, e.g., modeling the vascular system of patients at risk for or who have suffered from an aneurysm, stroke, cardiovascular disease, or heart disease. Endovascular systems are indicated herein as illustrative embodiments; however, it should be understood that the disclosed CFDs are relevant to many health care applications including endovascular devices, blood flow in the eye's choriocapillaris, fluid flow through fibrous materials used in healthcare and consumer products applications (e.g., napkins, diapers, stents, wire meshes, and/or the like). The disclosed CFDs are also relevant to other industries, including, but not limited to, oil and gas industrial applications. For example, the disclosed CFDs may be used to ascertain or estimate fluid flow through rocks, carbon sequestration, and/or gas recovery. Similarly, the present CFDs may be applied to fluidic filtration technologies in nearly any field, including water filtration, chemical filtration, and/or the like.
Interventions for vascular disorders often include introducing permanent or semi-permanent structures into the vascular system, e.g., endovascular devices. For example, patients at risk for an aneurysm develop an aneurysm sac where the vascular wall may eventually rupture. FIG. 1A illustrates an aneurysm sac 110. One mitigating procedure for the development of an aneurysm sac is shown in FIG. 1B, where platinum coils 120 deployed within an aneurysm sac 110. These coils promote thrombosis within the sac, and over time, the aneurysmal neck 130 will be occluded, preventing further blood flow to the aneurysm sac and reducing or eliminating the risk of rupture. Modeling the environment and coil prior to surgery assists with evaluation of outcome and procedure details, e.g., coil formation and geometry. Modeling aneurysm sacs and coils in vascular system is calculation intensive, which limits accuracy, the number of variables, and the number scenarios that can be efficiently evaluated preoperatively. Thus, there is a need for enhancements in hemodynamic modeling methods and systems to provide greater flexibility, accuracy, and speed in dynamic fluid flow modeling. Stents and pipeline embolization devices (PEDs), illustrated as 140 in FIG. 1C and as 150 in FIG. 1D, respectively, for maintaining open vasculature also benefit from hemodynamic modeling to aid in predicting outcome and efficacy of intervention.